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There was a little more than a week of the transfer window remaining when Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, fielded his umpteenth inquiry of the summer about prospective reinforcements. He was asked, before the visit of Fenerbahçe, why he was concentrating on trying to sign a striker when many would suggest that he could do with a defender or two.

Wenger did not bite. He offered a smile and wry self-deprecation amid the maelstrom. “Well,” he said. “You all know what sort of players I like.” And we do. After 17 years in the Barclays Premier League, we are well